TITLE
Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP FM15-019 and award contracts to Barbara A. Lloyd, Municipal Advisory Services, of Los Angeles, CA; Frasca & Associates, LLC, of New York, NY; KNN Public Finance, of Los Angeles, CA; Montague DeRose and Associates, LLC, of Westlake Village, CA; Public Financial Management, Inc., of Los Angeles, CA; and Public Resources Advisory Group, of Los Angeles, CA, to provide financial advisory services on an as-needed basis, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $1,200,000 per year, for a period of two years, with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to enter into contracts with various professional financial firms to provide the City, including the Airport, Harbor, and Water Departments, with as-needed specialized financial, advisory services. The City has historically used financial experts on an as-needed basis for various on-call projects, with respect to the City's General Fund, special district, and enterprise debt portfolios. Access to specialized financial and industry expertise is necessary to preserve the City's ability to address priority issues, and shifting financial, legal and regulatory developments, in a comprehensive and timely manner.
A Request for Proposals (RFP) was conducted to pre-qualify experts for specialized financial advisory services and to refresh the City's financial advisor pool. City departments engage financial advisor services based upon required technical expertise and financial experience on an as-needed basis. Most of the engagements above $50,000 are for potential bond issuance and are often done on a contingency basis. Contingency basis means that, for a typical bond issuance engagement, regardless of the work done, the City will not incur any obligation to pay unless a bond issuance actually occurs.
An RFP was issued on November 4, 2014, and 3,382 potential proposers specializing in financial advisory services were notified of the RFP opportunity. Of those potential proposers, 35 vendors downloaded the RFP document via the City's electronic bid system. The RFP document was made available through the Purchasing Division's website at www.longbeach.gov/purchasing <http://www.longbeach.gov/purchasing>. An RFP announcement was also included in the Purchasing Division's weekly update of Open Bid Opportunities, which is sent to 30 local, minority and women-owned business groups. Eight proposals were received on December 8, 2014. Of those eight proposals, none were Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) or Minority-owned Business Enterprises (MBEs), one was a Woman-owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and certified Small Business Enterprise (SBE), and none were Long Beach Businesses (Local).
Local Business Outreach
In an effort to align with the City's outreach goal, Long Beach businesses are encouraged to submit proposals for City contracts. The Purchasing Division also assists businesses with registering on the Bids Online database to download RFP specifications. Through outreach, 376 Long Beach vendors were notified to submit proposals, of which one downloaded and none submitted a proposal. The Purchasing Division is committed to continuing to perform outreach to local vendors to expand the bidder pool.
A selection committee, comprised of staff from the Financial Management, Harbor, Airport and Water Departments, reviewed the proposals and evaluated each firm on the criteria set forth in the RFP. The selection committee determined that the following six firms submitted the most qualified and responsive proposals:
· Barbara A. Lloyd, Municipal Advisory Services, of Los Angeles, CA (WBE and SBE);
· Frasca & Associates, LLC, of New York, NY;
· KNN Public Finance, of Los Angeles, CA;
· Montague DeRose and Associates, LLC, of Westlake Village, CA;
· Public Financial Management, Inc., of Los Angeles, CA; and,
· Public Resources Advisory Group, of Los Angeles, CA.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Amy R. Webber on February 27, 2015 and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on March 5, 2015.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action to adopt Specifications No. RFP FM15-019 and award contingent contracts concurrently is requested on March 24, 2015 to ensure that the appropriate financial expertise is available to support the City's initiatives.
FISCAL IMPACT
Aggregate costs for these services will not exceed $1,200,000 per year. No appropriation increase is requested at this time. Any work not currently budgeted is subject to appropriation approval by the City Council. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
JOHN GROSS
DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER